


Voiceless

by the_witching_hours



Series: Voiceless [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2018-09-27 16:48:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10034534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_witching_hours/pseuds/the_witching_hours
Summary: (Reader Insert) Reader is a mutant/inhuman with a powerful voice (works a little like a banshee / a little like a siren). She’s had it a little rough since discovering her powers. She is found and taken in by Tony Stark and the remaining Avengers after the events of Civil War.(insp by “Dangerous” by Shinedown)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Y/F/N: Your First Name  
> Y/L/N: Your Last Name

When the what was left of the Avengers found you,  you were fairly certain that they was there to take you into custody, but they quickly became your family; a strange and dysfunctional family it may have been, but it was yours. 

...

You’d been in a few tight spots before, but this was the worst by far. You’d been just off of a double shift at the latest crappy diner job you’d landed; it was hard to get a well-paying job when you only held a high school diploma after all. You feet were killing you and you were massively cranky, and you still had a long walk in the dark before you got home. But when you heard the whimper, you turned your head, scanning the street around you looking for the source. It had sounded like a child, but it was after one o’clock in the morning, there shouldn’t have been any kids anywhere near the diner. The whimper came again, a little quieter, but sounding pained. As quietly as you could, you edged towards the mouth of the alley behind the diner. Pressing your back to the wall, you poked your head around the corner, almost instantly yanking it back. There was a large man searching around the alley, he was partially hunched over and speaking in low tones, if he was looking for the source of the sound, he hadn’t found it yet. You peeked around the corner again and something in his hand caught the light, a gun. You quickly swung your head back around the corner and your heartbeat began to race. 

“Leave me alone” a small voice cried out. Your eyes widened and you inhaled sharply as the man responded too quietly for you to hear, but you did hear a sharp slap and a cry of pain.

You don’t remember making a conscious decision to step into the alley, but suddenly you were there.

“You heard the kid, leave ‘em alone,” your voice was steady, not betraying the fear you felt.

“This doesnt concern you lady, back the fuck off,” the man spat at you. Now you could see the child; a little boy, maybe 6 years old. The thug had a tight grip on his upper arm and was dragging him out from behind the dumpster. The boy was struggling to free himself and the man looked back down to him and shook him roughly. The boy whimpered again.

“Let the kid go,” you ordered calmly, “let him go, and walk away. You’re not gonna like what happens if you don’t.”

The man laughed in your face, clearly not believing you could follow through on your threat. You looked to the boy and met his gaze, you nodded at him once before looking back to the man.

You walked towards the man slowly, and as you did, you began to sing. With your powers, it didn’t matter what you sang, as long as you sang, you had control of your target. For a moment, the man looked confused, he squinted and tilted his head, but then he was out of control. You could see his eyes glaze over as you took over, and within seconds, he had released the boy, you pulled the child behind you and sang a little more, pushing the man into unconsciousness. As his head hit the ground, you turned to the boy and knelt in front of him, he had a mark on his cheek from the slap and his sleeve was ripped from the man’s grip; he looked both underfed and exhausted.

“Are you okay?” The boy didn’t respond, he was staring at the man’s body, shaking. You tried again to get his attention, but he seemed to be in shock. You didn’t want to touch the boy  to get his attention for fear of frightening him but what else could you do? Biting you lip, you started to hum, you chose to hum a lullaby, soft and sweet, not enough to really control him, just enough to give you the ability to calm him down enough that he could talk to you.

Once you got him calm, he told you that he had been taken from him mom, he didn’t know how long he’d been gone, but he told you that he had tried to run and the man chased him. He started to cry as he told you he just wanted to go home, he wanted to see his mom. You wrapped your arms around him and started to hum again. You picked him up, he weighed very little you noticed, and you started to walk to the nearest police station.

As soon as you were sure the boy was safe, you turned and left. You knew there would be questions, questions that you would have an awfully hard time answering, so you chose to leave, hoping that no one would come looking for you, after all the boy was safe now. 

You had left just before the little boy, now ensconced in a swivel chair, with a cookie in his hands, explained to the officers surrounding him, that the magic lady sang the bad man to sleep.

...

Tony Stark had just flown in your window, shocking enough really even before you considered the fact that your window was rather tiny. 

“Um… Hi there…” you stuttered, blinking as you froze, your coffee cup halfway to your lips and your fuzzy slippers propped up on your beat up milk crate/table.

“Hey,” He said, popping his helmet open and smiling at you, “you Y/F/N Y/L/N?”

“Depends, why are you asking?” you hedged, putting down your mug and pulling yourself into a standing position.

“I’m taking that as a yes then,” he nodded before speaking into what you assumed was a com, “found her.”

“So, should I be running away now? You coming to take me in for something? What is it I’m supposed to have done exactly?” You were slowly inching yourself away from Tony Stark, with the pathetic hope that you could somehow escape if you needed to, when a man with red, metal looking skin and a cape phased through the wall next to you. You squeaked and backed away, quickly this time.

“Maybe should have come through the door Vison,” Tony snarked at the man in a cape.

“I had assumed that you had informed Miss. Y/L/N of the situation, therefore I would not have alarmed her,” the android responded evenly.

“Nope. Nope I am severely under-informed. Not informed at all. Very alarmed now,” you panted.

“Ok, ok,” Tony placated, stepping out of the Ironman suit with an arm outstretched towards you, “Sorry, we’re just here to talk. No arresting, not gonna hurt you, just wanna chat.”

“Couldn’t have called first huh?” you sassed, a hand clutching h=your chest as you slowed your breathing.

Tony smiled at that as you took a deep breath. He had you sit back down on your beat up couch as he explained why they were there. They had heard about you from police reports, not just the most recent one, although that had helped them track you down. They’d pieced together stories about you and about your abilities. They wanted to help, and asked your help in return. Tony Stark was asking you to join the Avengers. That thought took a solid few minutes to process as you stared at him.

“So, I mean, you’d have to move out of here,” Tony said, motioning to your apartment, “but, I think you’ll like the compound.”

You looked up to meet his slightly smug, lopsided smile as he asked, “What do ya say? Wanna be an Avenger?” You laughed lightly, glancing back at Vision before returning your gaze to Tony’s, 

“When do we leave?”


	2. Chapter 2

Settling into the compound took some time, it’s not that it was uncomfortable cause it seriously wasn’t, the problem was getting used to living around a bunch of superheros; people you knew about, idolized and felt so inferior too. It also didn’t help that you were the sole source of estrogen in the building; you weren’t sure if Vision even had hormones per-se, but if he did, estrogen wasn’t the main one. For a little while, Colonel Rhodes (who insisted that you called him Rhodey) wasn’t at the compound; with his back being so seriously injured, he spent a lot of time in and out of the hospital. Occasionally Peter would visit, but he was still in high school so his visits weren’t frequent. With only Tony and Viz around, you thought you would have a lot of time to yourself… nope. No, that, that didn’t happen.

Tony seemed to have practically adopted you by the time you had finished unpacking your last box. He not only helped you move your boxes into your new space,  but he helped you unpack, and even organize. From then on, you spent a good deal of your time with him in his lab; you were only able to really grasp about a third of what he talked about, but he seemed so happy to have company, and genuinely liked to have you help every once in awhile. You took to bringing a notebook to the lab with you; you wrote all the time that Tony tinkered, some times you wrote down things that he mentioned to look up later, sometimes you just wrote whatever nonsense was floating around your head, but more often than not, you wrote songs.

Funny thing about being able to sing like you could, sometimes you wished that there was a song that really fit what you wanted to convey; not that the poor souls you turned your powers on could really comprehend what you were singing, but you could, and for some reason, it bothered you that sometimes you didn’t have the right songs. You’d never had any formal voice training; when you were younger it hadn’t seemed necessary, and once your powers developed, it became an impossibility; so you didn’t write songs really, but you wrote the words, and most of the time, the music flowed through your mind as you matched it’s tune to your words. You had pages and pages of lyrics in random notebooks throughout your space, you never shared them with your new housemates, just as you’d never shared them with anyone before; they always seemed incomplete or silly to you. Not that they stayed unseen for long.

Some people would assume that Tony was the nosy one of the group, they would be wrong. Vision had a nasty habit of popping up wherever you’d least expect him, and seemed to almost delight (if he was capable to that feeling) in surprising you. So really, you should have anticipated him being the one to ask about your notebooks first.

Tony had been hunting round, almost manically, for a notebook of his for the better part of an hour, you were helping him to look, but it refused to turn up.

“Perhaps you should check amongst your notebooks Y/N, it could have easily been mistaken amidst them,” Vision supplied as he appeared in the room right behind you. You startled slightly, still unused to his habits.

“I’m not sure Viz, Tony’s notebooks are a lot more full than mine,” you laughed, looking to Tony who shrugged and continued to look around, now flipping over couch cushions.

“I’d say your notebooks are rather full as well Y/N; you have an impressive amount of pages filled in each.”

“You been snooping Viz?” You turned to face him with an eyebrow raised.

“I wouldn’t characterize it quite like that, no. I was simply looking for you, so I checked your room, but you weren’t there. One of your notebooks was open on your desk, and a pile of them sat on the floor next to your desk. I just took notice of them and left to search for you elsewhere.”

“Happen to take note of what was written in the notebook?” Tony asked, his attention momentarily diverted from his search, “She won’t tell me what she does all the time she’s writing in them.”

You froze slightly, then turned to look at Vision who was about to answer Tony. You met his gaze and leveled what Rhodey called your “you better not” look at him. Unfortunately, Vision was still quite bad at reading facial expressions as social cues,

“Yes, it seemed to be several lines of prose, poetry perhaps.” You rolled your head back on your shoulders at this and closed your eyes. _“Let the hazing commence…”_

“Oh-ho-ho, poetry is it?” Tony chortled in a teasing tone, now completely forgetting his search for his own notes, and fully invested in your torment.

“It’s not poetry Viz, they’re lyrics,” you corrected, grumbling.

Tony cocked his head and blinked a few times before nodding, “that makes more sense. What’cha writing songs about kido?”

“Nothing really. Sometimes, when I would sing, I just wished I had songs to fit the situation, so I started writing some down,” you answered with a shrug.

“Ever finished any?”

“No, I don’t actually know who to write songs really, I can’t even read music.”

Tony looked a little confused at this as he began to right the couch cushions and then sat down, facing you.

“Why did you not learn? Surely there are tutors for such things.” Vision asked, also tilting his head a bit, “it seems that would be beneficial to you.”

“Yes Viz, there are vocal coaches, but, well once the powers developed, it wasn’t really an option, I could have hurt someone.”

Tony nodded at this and the discussion closed as he resumed his search for the missing notebook. You took a moment to remind Vision that he shouldn’t share people’s private information without their consent, and went to your room to see if in fact you had accidentally taken one of Tony’s notebooks.

The next day, when you went to the lab, there was a book of blank music paper, and a beginners music theory book waiting in your usual spot.

 


	3. Chapter 3

“What do you mean  _ missing _ ?” you asked Vision when he re-entered the lab. You’d gone there looking for Tony, but Vision had been the only one in the room. He had also been looking for Tony, so the two of you split up to find him, but neither had succeeded. 

You called his cell for what felt like the millionth time, still not getting through, as you went down to the garage to see if there were any of his cars missing, but they were all accounted for.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.?” you called out to the AI.

“Yes, Miss Y/L/N?” it responded.

“”Where and when was Mr. Stark last recorded in your system?”

“He was last recorded exiting onto the roof 3 and one half hours ago.”

“And you have no record of him re-entering the building?”

“No, Miss.”

“Did he have or call one of his suits?”

“No, Miss.”

“What the fuck then?! Did any aircraft approach the tower?”

“No aircraft, but I did register an anomaly. A presence of some kind,” this time Vision responded, having popped up behind you again.

“What kind of  _ presence _ exactly? Do you have video?”

As it turned out, there was video, only a few seconds of it, and it didn’t answer many questions. Tony had been standing on the roof, then a black and purple blur appeared behind him, and an arm reached out and yanked him back through. The video cut out, and Tony didn’t reappear.

For the next 24 hours, you, Vision, and Rhodey had scoured surveillance footage, the roof, and all surrounding buildings for evidence, but the picture hadn’t gotten much clearer. The blur had been an a person teleporting, so it was an enhanced person who had taken him, but that didn’t narrow the search any. Rhodey had reached out to the government for help, but what was left of the Avengers was on thin ice with the governments of the world. So you didn’t expect much help there. 

You’d reached out to Jane Foster, hoping she could help you better understand the blur, or maybe tell you how to reach Thor. She promised to help on the “blur” research, but she had no idea where the Asgardian was. You didn’t even consider calling Peter; he was just a kid, and neither you nor Tony wanted him mixed up in anything else if it could be avoided. Dr. Banner was still AWOL, and Tony had probably burned all his bridges with Natasha Romanoff. You were out of options and  _ terrified _ . 

Now you were sitting in Tony’s office, looking at the phone. Not his desk phone, no, you were looking at the outdated cellphone that Steve Rogers had sent to Tony when he’d arrived in Wakanda. The phone you’d hoped  _ not _ to have to use.

Tony had explained the phone to you because you’d seen him holding it one day. The door to his office had been slightly open, so you hadn’t knocked, and when you’d entered, you’d seen Tony sitting at his desk, the cellphone in his hand. When you’d asked what on earth he was doing with such an ancient phone, he’d sighed. He closed his eyes and then turned to look at you. He looked sad, then he’d explained the fight between himself and Steve Rogers. How they’d misunderstood each other. How, when Tony found out that Sergeant Barnes had been the one who killed his parents, he had attacked both Barnes and Rogers.

_ “I didn’t give a shit what had happened to Barnes, all I cared about was that he’d killed my mom.” Tony paused, his eyes closed and body tense. “I knew, I KNEW, that Barnes and the Winter Soldier were two separate things, but I didn’t care. I mean fuck, you wanna talk about issues, I got ‘em all, or I thought I did. But Barnes, man he beats me. But I didn’t care; I screwed up so bad. And Cap disabled me, picked up Barnes, and left. I thought that was the end of it. For a while I held onto the anger. I do that ya know, hold on to anger, or refuse to acknowledge shit if it’s hard, or I did anyway. Therapist says that’s bad for me,” he rolled his eyes open and took a breath, leaning back in his chair. _

_ “But then, a little while later, this package shows up. Had the phone and a letter in it.” Tony pulled open a drawer and pulled out the letter he’d mentioned and handed it to you. _

_ “He forgave you,” you said after reading it. _

_ “Yeah, he did,” Tony still sounded disbelieving, “I still don’t understand it. I was a shit friend; I disregarded him the whole time he was trying to tell me Barnes didn’t plant the bomb in Vienna, then when I pulled my head out of my ass and went to help him... Not to mention the fact that I left the rest of the team in the RAFT.” Tony put the phone down on the desk, leaned back in his chair and raked his hands through his hair. _

_ You put the letter down next to the cellphone and went around the desk to Tony’s side, putting a hand on his shoulder. _

_ “I know you think you’re not worth forgiving-” _

_ “Cause I’m not. I’m not, Y/N. Look at all the shit I’ve done, huh? Wanda and Pietro? MY weapons were used to kill their family, then Pietro dies fighting ANOTHER one of my creations. How do I thank Wanda? I left her to sit in the RAFT with a collar on. A FUCKING COLLAR!” Tony shouts, dropping his hands from his hair to the arms of his chair forcefully. You stepped back, removing the hand from his shoulder. _

_ “I fucked up with Pepper; let her think I didn’t care about her, let her get hurt. I fucked up with Rhodey, got him paralyzed. I AM unforgivable, Y/N. All I do is keep hurting people.” _

_ You’d had enough. You pulled Tony’s chair from his desk and knelt in front of him, making sure he was looking at you. _

_ “Look, Tony. Yes, you’ve made mistakes, a goddamn fuck-ton of them. People do that.” Tony looked about to interrupt you so you put a hand over his mouth and continued, “I’m not saying that the things you did weren’t wrong, or serious, they were. What I AM saying is this, you wanna be forgiven, wanna be worthy of forgiveness? Then learn from the mistakes you’ve made. You’re a genius, but sometimes you act like a dumbass. You’re going to therapy, great. How about taking the shit the therapist says seriously? You wanna stop hurting people? Start running ideas by people; if the idea could impact them, they need to have input before you just do things.” You pulled the hand away from his mouth and sat back on your heels.  _

_ “I’m not saying that you ARE unforgivable, ‘cause I don’t think you are, I don’t think ANYONE is. But if you feel like you are, I think you’re gonna keep acting the same way. I think you need to get your head on right, and accept that a flawed person can still be a good person, and then I think you’ll get better.” _

Tony had looked so hopeful when you’d said that. Your eyes welled up and you clenched the phone that you didn’t remember picking up. 

It was now 48 hours after Tony had disappeared. Rhodey was out of options, Vision couldn’t get anymore information from the video feeds, and Jane had no luck in finding Thor or figuring out the teleporting. The phone was the only life line left. You took a deep breath, leaned back in Tony’s desk chair, and dialed the preprogrammed number on the phone. It only rang twice.

“Tony?” came a voice from the other end of the call.

“Not exactly,” you answered, “It’s a long story, but Tony is missing and I… I didn’t know anyone else to call. It’s been two days…”

“Who are you then?”

“My name is Y/N. Tony took me in a few months ago.”

“Why’d he do that?”

“Well… again, it’s a long story.”

“Give me the short version then,” the voice prompted.

“I have powers, he found me using them, wanted to help me. I’ve been in the tower and compound ever since,” after a moment of silence you continued, “Look, I know you don’t trust me, I get that, but  _ Tony’s gone _ . He disappeared right off the tower roof two days ago and I have run out of people to call and,” you cut off, choking on a sob that came out of nowhere. You hadn’t slept in two days, had barely eaten, and Tony was still gone. 

You weren’t sure when it had happened, but Tony had wormed his way into your heart. He became the older brother you’d never had, and never knew that you’d been missing. Now that you’d had time with him, it hurt to have him gone. And you were scared for him.

A sigh reached your ears through the phone, “What information do you have?”

“Just video of him on the roof, a weird, dark purple, blur opened up and he got pulled through it by an arm. That’s all we’ve got.”

“Alright Y/N, here’s what I want you to do…”

 


	4. Chapter 4

Nervous, that was the only word you could think of to describe yourself at that moment; nervous. Captain America and his team were due to arrive in the next 5 minutes. Colonel Rhodes and F.R.I.D.A.Y. had just barely managed to clear their flight path to the compound; keeping their arrival off the collective radar’s of the world’s armed forces hadn’t been easy, but they’d done it. Turns out Tony actually helped with that; he’d had a plan in place all along, you just followed his instructions. If it hadn’t been for his kidnapping, it may never have happened so soon, but he had clearly hoped that it would one day.

“There is no sense in fretting, Y/N,” Vision said from slightly behind you, “Captain Rogers is a very nice person, as are the rest of his team.”

“I understand that Vis, but since the last time y’all saw each other wasn’t so nice, I can’t imagine they’re all that hyped to be back here helping find Tony. I know Tony thinks they blame him, they probably do a little, or more, I just… I need to find him Vis, I  _ need _ Tony to be okay, and I need the Avengers back so I can find him. I’m afraid it won’t be enough that I need them.” You turned away from him then, to the sound of a plane touching down. 

The door to the plane opened and out stepped Captain Steve Rogers, all 6 feet 2 inches of him. He was the only one to exit the plane, and the plane’s engine remained idling, clearly he didn’t trust you. You didn’t blame him. You slowly crossed the field towards him, making sure that Vision stayed back.

“Captain,” you greeted, calmly extending your right hand to shake his.

“Y/N,” he returned with a nod, looking over your shoulder at Vision; a scowl forming on his face.

“I know you aren’t happy to be back here, I don’t blame you, and honestly, I wouldn’t blame you if you got back on that plane and left,” you looked at the ground, clasping your hands in front of you, “but this was my last resort.”

“How’d you know to use the phone?” You looked up, confused; that hadn’t been what you’d expected him to ask.

“Tony told me about it. Told me about the fight, the accords. He told me that if he should ever disappear, and I needed help, he thought I could call you. I didn’t plan on needing to…”

“Don’t think anyone ever  _ plans _ on this kinda stuff,” he agreed, running a hand through his hair, “look, I don’t mind helping; I don’t want Tony to be hurt, it’s just…”

“The rest of the team?” you asked softly, when he nodded you continued, “they don’t have to be involved at all if they don’t want to be, but if they do, they’re safe here.”

“You guaranteeing that?” came a voice from the plane. A man was sticking his head out the door, and seemed to be addressing you.

“Yeah, I am.”

You heard a scoff before the man left the plane, and crossed to where you and Captain Rogers were standing. He stopped beside the captain and crossed his arms, regarding you, “and how are you gonna do that exactly?”

“I am more than I seem,” you hedged, meeting his eyes. It wasn’t that you didn’t plan on telling the Avengers what you could do, but if this guy wanted to push you, you’d push right back.

Captain Rogers took a moment to look between you and the man. Seeming to make a decision, he nodded and turned to look at the plane. 

“The others will make their own decisions, but I will tell them it’s safe to come out.”

You nodded in response, “I’ve got one of the conference rooms set up with all the information we’ve got, we can all meet in there if that’s ok.”

“Lead the way.”

\---------

_ “Well, it could be going worse,” _ you thought. Wanda and Vision were pointedly not looking at each other. The man from earlier, who’d been introduced to you as Sam Wilson, was eyeing Rhodey warily, and neither Vision nor Rhodey were making any effort to speak to Natasha. They had all agreed to help find Tony, but that had been the end of the agreements.

The verbal arguments started when the question of who could have taken him was broached. All sorts of theories were thrown around, but none were all that feasible. When the group had tried to switch gears into a plan to find more information, the physical posturing began. 

The tension in the room was thick, and there was sweat forming on your brow. You knew that you had the power to calm the situation, but you also didn’t feel comfortable doing that without explaining yourself first. Especially since you  _ knew _ some of the people in the room had been controlled before; Natasha Romanoff and James Barnes. No, you didn’t want to inflict more damage on them just because you were uncomfortable, but if the fights escalated more, you would have to step in, or leave the room. That was when you noticed someone already had left the room.

“Where’s Barnes?” you asked, more to yourself than anyone else, since no one was listening or paying attention to you. Curious, and a bit worried, you left in search of him.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., where is Mr. Bames?”

“He is in the gym Miss, and he seems… upset.”

“What do you mean?”

“His heart rate is elevated, but he is not moving.”

“Shit,” you muttered as you jogged to the gym. 

You opened the door to the gym slowly, and poked your head in, not seeing him until you fully stepped into the dark room. He was curled into a corner; his back to the wall, knees up to his chest, eyes wide and he was panting. There was a sheen of sweat across his forehead and he seemed to shake even as he tried to hold his body tightly together.

These were signs you were familiar with. Sure, they had removed the trigger words from his head, but they couldn’t possibly clear 70 years worth of PTSD inducing events. Hoping that you could help him the same way you had helped Tony in the past, you slowly walked closer to him.

You began to hum softly as you approached, your hum changing into a song; a soft lullaby, as you got within arms reach. You were fairly certain that HYDRA had never sang to Barnes, so he shouldn't have a negative reaction to a song. As you sang, you let a little of your influence reach him; you didn’t pressure him, didn’t attempt to manipulate him in anyway, just sent waves of reassurance and serenity to his fragile mind. 

You sat down next to him, and sang for him for several minutes before you saw any change in his behavior. You’d switched from a lullaby to a pop song  (Gone, gone, gone by Phillip Phillips) , and his back muscles loosened, just marginally. As you continued to sing, his body slowly uncurled itself. By the time you reached the end of the song, he was sitting beside you, legs out in front of him, and his head resting on your shoulder. 

_ “Just one more song” _ you thought, not wanting to end too early, and also enjoying the positive reaction to using your powers  (Maybe by Sick Puppies) . Barnes’ body relaxed against yours, and you reached up to run a hand over his head, trailing your fingers through his hair. Tony always calmed faster when you did that; it seemed to work on Barnes too; he let out a small hum. You let the song fade, and dropped to just a hum, then stopped altogether after a few moments; continuing to stroke his head.

“Thank you.” His voice was a little gravely, and it was barely above a whisper.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad I could help.” A throat cleared from the doorway, and you looked up to see Steve there, a stunned look on his face. Bucky didn’t move except to burrow his head deeper into your shoulder; you in turn wrapped your arm more securely around his head.

“We’re ok, Captain.”

Steve nodded in response slowly crossing the room to crouch in front of the two of you, “Buck?”

“Mm ok, Steve,” Barnes mumbled into your shoulder before turning his face to his friend, “just got to be a bit much in there.”

“I’m sorry, Buck, I should have noticed.”

“Not your fault.”

The two batted guilt back and forth for a bit before Barnes got up from the floor. He turned once he was stood and offered you his hand to help you up. You accepted with a smile and brushed dust off your legs as you stood. Barnes smiled back faintly as Rogers led the way out of the room.

“How did you know to do that?” Natasha was waiting outside the doors to the gym, you hadn’t noticed her presence, but she seemed to have been watching you while you calmed Barnes.

“To calm him down? I dunno. I didn’t know that it would work,” you shrugged before continuing, “it’s what I do for Tony when he has panic attacks.”

“Stark has panic attacks?” Rogers asked, he and Barnes had stopped and turned to look at you.

“Yeah, not too often anymore, but he used to have them all the time. Said my singing helped, so…” you shrugged again, looking at the floor and shoving your hands into your jean pockets.

“If they’re anything like mine, it does help,” Barnes said, nodding slightly. You looked up, met his eyes, and smiled tentatively, then wider as he returned your smile with one of his own.

“Well… now that we’re all back under control,” Wilson snarked from his position down the hall, “let’s get this party started.”

With a last look at Barnes, you turned to Wilson and nodded as you led the way back to the conference room. It was time to get Tony back.

  
  



	5. Chapter 5

More hands and eyes hadn’t turned up much more on the search, but had resulted in Thor being found. You weren’t sure if you had wanted to know how Natasha had done that, but given the information that Thor had been able to provide, you also weren’t sure you cared.

Thor had pointed to a being named Thanos, who had been poking around in universal affairs for a while. Thor said that Thanos wasn’t directly involved, but that some of his followers were; namely the teleporter. A man by the name of Mordo was the one responsible for Tony’s abduction. Thor didn’t know too much about him, but he knew someone else who did. Along with Jane, and Thor’s mysterious friend, the team was now tracking Mordo’s whereabouts, and potentially, Tony’s.

You hadn’t been able to help much. There was nothing an enhanced waitress could do that the Avengers couldn’t. Natasha had taken over your training, and you were grateful. Although Tony and Rhodey had been training you, Natasha’s fighting style was more adapted to your size, and muscle tone. Plus, Tony and Rhodey relied on weaponry, Natasha relied on her own body; she was more physical than either of the boys had been. You frequently left the gym sore, and bruised, but you were becoming more confident. Clint had taken to showing you how to shoot and even let you try your hand at archery. You weren’t wonderful at it, but he said you weren’t hopeless, so you figured that was a start. Still, you weren’t a lot of help to anyone. So when you weren’t training, you’d taken to holing yourself up in either your room or the booth. 

The booth was a 100% soundproof room that Tony had outfitted for you. It had a keyboard, guitar and sound system, along with some seriously comfy chairs. 

_ “You like to sing don’t you?” You’d nearly cried when Tony showed you the room for the first time. _

_ “Yeah… I- I love it. Does this mean I can? I can sing without it affecting anyone?” _

_ “That was the idea, yeah.” Tony looked so proud of himself when you smiled, and you could tell you shocked him when you threw your arms around him, but how could you not? _

_ He’d gone out of his way to make a space just for you. A space where you could do what you loved without fear. He gained nothing by doing that, and you hadn’t asked him to do it, he’d just done it. _

_ Nobody had gone out of their way for you like that before, and you didn’t know what to say, so you’d hugged him and thanked him so many times you’d lost count. After a second, Tony returned your hug, his arms tightening around you. _

_ “You’re welcome, kid.” _

The booth worked a dream; it kept the others safe, but granted you your sanity.

_ “Sometimes the weight is more than I can hold, _

_ I’d rather fail than never really know. _

_ If it takes for-ever, _

_ I will die trying. _

_ If it takes for-ever, _

_ I will die trying. _

_ I will die trying.” _

As the last chord faded, a knock sounded on the door, you opened it to see Bucky on the other side.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Were you singing just now?” he asked.

“Um yeah. Wait, could you hear me?!”

“A little.”

“But it’s soundproof!”

“Serum enhanced hearing,” he said gesturing to his ear.

“Oh shit! I could have been influencing you. Fuck! I’m so sorry!” You were panicking now; you’d never intended to influence anyone, but your control may have slipped given how stressed and tired you were.  _ Oh no _ , if Bucky could hear you, then so could Steve. What of you’d influenced them  _ both _ ? Oh, they’d never trust you, and you wouldn’t blame them.  _ Shit _ ! And you’d been doing so well…

“Y/N, Y/N! Doll, snap out of it!” Bucky was yelling. Then you realized his hands were both on your shoulders, and he was shaking you slightly.

“Shit, sorry. Sorry,” you repeated, raising your hands to cover your face.

“Nothin’ to be sorry for. I told ya, you didn’t influence me or anything.”

“I- I didn’t?” your brow furrowed, “what about before, when I found you in the gym?”

“I don’t think so,” Bucky released your shoulders, and ran his metal hand over the back of his head, “I didn’t feel anything. Your voice was soothing, that’s all.”

Your eyes widened. You had been actively trying to influence Bucky before, if that hadn;t worked… What if your power was gone? Okay, okay. What should you do?

What would  _ Tony _ do?

Experiment.

You asked Vision, Rhodey and Natasha if you could test your powers on them. Surprisingly, they all agreed. The three of them sat in the booth with you and Bucky while the others sat just outside. You started with a small influence; an itch. Everyone but Bucky scratched their noses. 

Trying again, you sang and pushed the desire to stand. Again, all but Bucky stood up.

“Okay, I am going to try and get you three to sit down. Fight the influence this time,” you instructed before humming with the intention of getting Vision, Rhodes and Natasha to sit back in their chairs. Natasha was the last to sit, but they had all sat down within a minute.

Everyone else was waiting in the hallway, and when the four of you left the booth and you explained what had happened, they all shared a shocked expression.

“Is it even possible for someone to be completely unaffected?” you muttered in disbelief; you’d never come across this before.

“It stands to reason that if there are people who are more susceptible to your influence, and less susceptible to it, that there would be the possibility of a person being completely immune,” Vision answered in his ever calm voice as you looked to Bucky.

“Maybe it’s the serum,” he suggested, shrugging.

“Dunno, Buck. My serum made me  _ more _ susceptible,” Steve said.

This started a whole slew of questions you couldn’t answer. With more questions, you decided to experiment a little more. You tested the effect on all of the heroes; Wanda was the most affected, Natasha was the least, besides Bucky. Even Thor was affected. How was it possible that your voice influenced what counted as a god, but not Bucky?

“I just don’t get it,” you said, staring at the holoscreen in Tony’s lab. A simulation of your voice was playing across it; even the computer couldn't explain how it was that Bucky remained unaffected. 

“Does it matter?” came a voice from behind you. You looked over your shoulder to see Steve and Natasha in the doorway. 

“No, I guess it doesn’t. I’ve just always thought that everyone was susceptible. That I was a danger to everyone. I don’t know. It’s… nice to think that someone isn’t affected. Even if it’s just one person, ya know?”

Steve nodded as he came over and leaned against the desk next to you, crossing his arms over his chest. Natasha walked just past you to another holoscreen, and turned it on.

“I think Bucky’s just as surprised as you are. Figures the serum and all of HYDRA’s messing around would have found a way to make him immune. At least there’s  _ one _ good side effect.” Steve grinned at you. You were about to reply when Natasha spoke up.

“What’s this?” she asked. To you, she sounded like she may have already known what she was seeing, that she was seeking confirmation rather than clarification.

“Looks like vital stats,” Steve said, peering around you to see Natasha’s screen. 

“Yeah, but whose? No one is in medical,” Natasha said, typing away at the keyboard. “Y/N, do you know the passwords?”

“I can guess, but I don’t think Tony gave me the masters.” That would have been ridiculous. He barely knew you.

Then again, he had let you into the compound and the tower; his homes. And he’d brought you into the Avengers; his family. You knew quite a bit about him already…

And the passwords that you entered, unlocked the computer. 

Video feeds opened, showing a long metal tube that sort of resembled a coffin. One feed was a wide shot, showing the whole tube, the other was a close up. The close up looked in through a clear panel at the top of the tube, at the face of the man inside the tube.

“ _ Holy shit _ ,” Steve gasped.

“What?” you asked, coming closer, “who is that?”

“That’s Wanda’s brother.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song I used was "Sweet Child O’ Mine" by Guns n’ Roses

After the shouting had died down, Wanda had been brought into the lab. Most of the team had left then, wanting to give her space, but Vision and Steve both stayed. You hadn’t been sure where to go or what to do, but before you left the lab, you studied the image of Pietro Maximoff on the holoscreen. You made note of any features you could about the room that his cradle was in. There had been nothing in any of the computer files that had told you where he was. You assumed that he was within the compound, since Tony would never trust anyone else to watch over someone that important, but you had no idea where he could be. Fortunately, you’d made a habit out of exploring the compound.

In the time that you had been living with them, Vision, Tony, and Rhodey usually had something going on. And while they all did their best to include you, there were some things that you couldn’t be involved in. So when they were busy, you explored. As a kid, you had explored as a method of survival; when you needed to hide, you needed to know  _ where _ to hide. You hadn’t had many friends, but if you had you would have crushed them at hide and seek. As you grew up, the people would come looking for you became better at searching, so you became better at hiding. That skill came largely from wandering and exploring. You wouldn’t say that you knew the compound better that Tony, but you were  _ damn _ close.

So you wandered. The room that Pietro was in wasn’t a lab though it had a lot of lab equipment in it; it had the same flooring as your room; it looked about the same size too, but as far as you knew that there weren’t any doors that led to that room, otherwise you would have stumbled upon it by now. So you were looking for a hidden room, behind a hidden door. No biggie. 

Starting on the top floor in the far west corner, you began your search. You were pretty sure the room had no windows, since there was no natural light in the room. So for now, you excluded any exterior walls. You were barely around the first floor when Bucky found you; of course you were on your hands and knees checking the seams of the walls and floors. 

“What  _ are _ you doing?”

“What does it look like?” you sassed. You’d felt Bucky’s footsteps approaching, from your position close to the floor, it was harder for him to sneak up on you. 

“Didja drop something?”

“Nope, try again.” You were slightly annoyed about your search being interrupted. 

“I really don’t know, but I’d like to. If you don’t mind explaining that is.”

“I’m trying to find that room.”

“And you’re doin’ that by crawlin’ on the floor?”

“Well I’ve been all through this building, and I haven’t seen a door to that room, so I’m looking for a seam that doesn’t quite match. If that doesn’t work, I’m gonna start checking the ventilation shafts. That room  _ has _ to have a connection to the central HVAC. So I should be able to find it  _ that _ way.”

Bucky was standing off to the side, leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets with a shocked look on his face. He hadn’t been expecting to find you searching for the room, and he certainly hadn’t expected for you to have any clue what you were doing. But here you were, you’d searched the building before, multiple times by the sounds of it, and you knew at least a few ways to spot a hidden room.  _ “She’s a waitress?! Thought she dropped out of high school. Where the hell does all this come from?” _

You didn’t look over at him, too involved in your search to really care, so you missed the confused but intrigued look on his face, and the smile that formed after you said, “if you’re gonna stand there, you can help if you want.”

“Why are you looking for him?” Bucky asked as he ran his metal fingers over the walls on the other side of the hallway.

“Well, I’m curious,” you said, shooting him a cheshire cat grin, “and, well, Wanda looked so…  _ lost _ . I want to give her brother back. I know Tony was upset about the whole thing. I can’t say I’m shocked that he found a way to save Pietro; Tony carried a lot of guilt around what happened in Sokovia, and he especially felt bad about Wanda. As far as he’s concerned, he’s taken all there is to take from her, and he expects her to hate him. If there was anything Tony could do to save Pietro, he would have done it.”

Bucky nodded; you knew that he understood that feeling better than most. 

The two of you continued your search for the room, but had no luck. Feeling slightly defeated, you decided to head to the lab again and make sure you hadn’t missed any clues. Wanda was still in the lab, so you didn’t go in, looking at the screen from the hall instead. 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y?” you asked, an idea sparking in your head.

“Yes, Y/N?”

“Is there an access panel to the room Pietro’s in?”

“Yes, Y/N.”

“Can you tell me where?”

“I can tell you what Mr. Stark told me to tell you if you asked.” You groaned, of course Tony had a fail safe. He would have made a plan in case he left, and you found the room.

“Ok, shoot then.”

“He told me to tell you: ‘only  _ you _ can open it. The switch is in a place only  _ you _ would find it, and only  _ you _ can open it. What can  _ only _ you do, kid?’” F.R.I.D.A.Y had played that played those instructions in Tony’s voice, which you hadn’t expected. Hearing his voice actually startled you, and you could feel your heart leap. 

“Stark  _ would _ leave a riddle,” Bucky grumbled. You chuckled in response, tears stinging the back of your eyes. It hadn’t been more than a few days, a week at most, but you missed him. You worried about him. The team was fairly certain who had kidnapped him, and they were closing in on a location, but now with finding Pietro still alive, everyone was distracted. For a moment, you’d almost forgotten that he was gone. And now that you remembered, you felt more pain than before, mixed with feelings of guilt; how could you have forgotten Tony?

“Yeah, he’s nothing if not a showman. At least it’s a clue; I honestly wasn’t expecting F.R.I.D.A.Y to answer at all.”

“I will answer any question I can, Miss. But Mr. Stark was adamant I not tell you about that room. He was more worried that you’d find it on your own.”

You laughed again, one tear falling and running down your cheek; of course Tony knew you were wandering the compound. It was nice that he’d let you, instead of stopping you; it made you feel safe. Even understood. 

“Okay then. Where would only you find it?” Bucky asked. He faced you from his position across the hall, he had his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes were focused on you. You met his eyes “Other than my room? I would guess the booth. Actually, let’s check the booth first. Viz spends a lot of time in and out of my room, but nobody other than me is ever in the booth.”

“Why not?”

“Cause no one wants to be mind controlled Bucky. It’s not safe for anyone to be in the booth with me when I’m singing, except you I guess. And I can’t imagine anyone  _ wanting _ to hang out in there if I’m not there.”

“But your singing is beautiful. And I can’t imagine you hurting anyone here.”

“Well, I wouldn’t. But just because I know that, doesn’t mean everyone would want to make themselves that vulnerable. Even if I had the world’s most beautiful voice, I don’t think anyone would put their safety in the hands of the drop-out waitress.”

Bucky didn’t respond as you both headed to the elevator. You assumed that Bucky didn’t respond because he understood what you’d said. But Bucky hadn’t responded because he was still confused. The more you talked about yourself, the more he realized that you didn’t think very highly of yourself. Bucky realized that you saw yourself in sort of the same way as he saw himself; as a dangerous person who wasn't to be trusted. The word “monster” went unsaid, but Bucky could hear it rattling around in your head. During the entire elevator Bucky thought about all he’d seen and heard of you. 

You were deceptively smart, observant, and witty. You had Tony Stark’s trust, and you seemed to have formed a familial relationship with not only Stark, but with Colonel Rhodes and even Vision as well. You knew how to search for a hidden room, and you thought of yourself as dangerous and untrustworthy. Bucky wondered where you could have developed such a self-image. He stayed quiet all the way to the booth, which, in your head cemented the thought that he saw you as a monster too.

You tried not to see yourself that way, and most days it worked, but sometimes… Sometimes it was hard to keep up the charade. Shaking your head slightly you unlocked the booth door and both you and Bucky stepped in. 

“I’m not sure where it could be in here. I think I would have noticed it by now,” you said quietly as your eyes scanned the familiar room, “and only  _ I _ can open it? Like a palm scanner?”

“From what I’ve seen of Tony Stark, I seriously doubt he’d be old school enough or low-key enough to use a palm scanner,” after a pause Bucky spoke again, “What about a song?”

“You mean the lock could be keyed to a song?” Bucky nodded from his current position, checking under the speakers in the room. “Like a specific song?” you asked.

“Yeah. You said that when Stark had an attack, you’d sing to him. What songs would you sing?”

“Um, usually whatever song first came to mind,” you sighed, leaning back against the wall, “A lot of the time it was just kid songs. They were the first things I thought of.”

Bucky nodded, abandoning his search to look at you. He sat cross legged on the floor directly in front of you, and gave you his attention. “Did he have a favorite?”

“He had a couple, but yeah, there was one he liked best.” you trailed off, looking up at the ceiling, a small smile on your face. In that moment, you really missed Tony. As loud and egotistical as he was, he had wormed his way into your heart and set up a permanent camp there. 

“Could you sing it for me?” Bucky’s quiet request snapped you out of your headspace quickly. You looked back down at him, still sitting on the floor in front of you, and gave him a little crooked smile. Bucky was like Tony a little; he put up the front of a tough, cocky asshole to hide the emotionally scarred guy beneath. And to be honest, the sincere look on his face when he asked you to sing for him, broke what little resolve you had to begin with.

 

_ “She's got eyes of the bluest skies _

_ As if they thought of rain _

_ I hate to look into those eyes _

_ And see an ounce of pain _

_ Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place _

_ Where as a child I'd hide _

_ And pray for the thunder _

_ And the rain _

_ To quietly pass me by” _

 

As you sang the last line, a soft click could be heard. Your head whipped around to see the lock on the sound booth door engage. Bucky stood up in a move so fast that you would swear defied the laws of physics and tried to flip the lock to disengage it, but it wouldn’t budge, not even for his vibranium arm.

“ _ Oooookay _ . That’s  _ not _ what I expected to happen. FRIDAY?” you called, feeling your heartbeat speed up.

It sped up even more when she didn’t respond, instead you heard a soft click, and the wall behind you began to slide back into a hidden recess. 

“Well, it looks like we found him doll,” Bucky commented. He had made his way into the hidden room ahead of you, stopping by the cradle. 

You followed, stepping up beside him and looking down at Pietro. You noticed that there was a small hand scanner mounted beside his head. A scanner that you placed your palm on without hesitation. 

Pietro’s vitals began to rise, slowly reaching the levels of an awake person. Bucky watched you before looking around the room, there was a switch beside the door you had entered, that when he flipped, opened the outer door of the booth. He turned back to you with a smile on his face, that grew when you turned and met his eyes.

“Can you go get Wanda? I think her brother’s gonna want to see her when he wakes up.”


	7. Chapter 7

Pietro’s recovery was quick, and although his memory was a little blurry, he seemed to remember almost everything that had occured. Clint had brought him on board the carrier after he’d been shot, and although Pietro had been mortally wounded, he had been alive at the time. He had died on the carrier, not on the ground. Fury had gotten a hold of him, and had immediately put him in something called the TAHITI protocol. Whatever it was, it had worked. It had brought him back, but he’d been unconscious still. Tony had been searching for Pietro’s body since the end of Sokovia, but hadn’t been able to find him. Clint had told him that Pietro had been taken to the carrier, but that was the last he knew. Tony had wanted to return him to his sister. 

Though what had happened to the Maximoff’s parents hadn’t been Tony’s fault, his name had been on the bomb. His company had provided the arms that killed Wanda’s parents. And then he’d made Ultron. Tony’s creation had been responsible for Pietro’s death. Tony felt he had taken everything from Wanda. Everything. He  _ needed _ to give her brother back to her.

So when he finally found him,  _ alive _ no less, in Fury’s hands, Tony had lost his shit. Pietro had been in a sort of catatonic state at the time, but he’d heard most if the conversations. Lots of Tony yelling at Fury, lots of Fury trying to explain his reasons for not telling Wanda that her brother was alive. It had taken all of a month for Tony to get ahold of Pietro, and sneak him away. That was how Pietro came to be in the compound. Tony had quietly brought Helen Cho to the compound and utilized her cradle technology to help complete Pietro’s recovery. 

As to why Tony had hidden Pietro in a place that only you would find, you could only guess, but it was likely that it was just the most secure place in the compound. You were sure that was it.

Everyone was crowded into the room Pietro had been given most of their time was spent with him. You didn’t begrudge them reconnecting with their friend, their brother, but Tony was still gone. You spent your time in the lab.

You weren’t a computer genius, but FRIDAY helped you learn how to work most of the functions on Tony’s computer setup. While the others were reuniting, you were searching. You had FRIDAY run every algorithm you could, and even tried your hand at sneakily gaining access to some Department of Defense servers. It hadn’t worked, and though it had pissed you off, at least you were trying.

You had Tony’s music blaring in the lab 24/7, as loud as you could. You didn’t leave the lab unless you absolutely had to, and as a few days passed, you stopped coming out for food. That was when Bucky and Sam came looking for you. 

Neither of them had really known the twins before, so they didn’t have much to talk to Pietro about, they hadn’t needed to connect with him like the others had. Bucky had been looking over his shoulder a lot over the days you’d been in the lab. Like he was waiting for someone to walk in, but they never did. Sam noticed, and gave Bucky shit for it, but when he really stopped to think, he realized you hadn’t been out for a while. And, he realized, you weren’t done. You’d called them there to help you find Tony, and no one had been looking for him.

So, after telling Steve, Natasha, Vision, and Rhodes off for forgetting their friend, Sam joined Bucky as they ventured down to the lab. Bucky heard it first and stopped Sam from walking any closer to the lab; you were singing.

_ Make a joke and I will sigh and you will laugh and I will cry _

_ Happiness I cannot feel and love to me is so unreal _

_ And so as you hear these words telling you now of my state _

_ I tell you to enjoy life I wish I could but it's too late _

Bucky walked into the lab, and called for FRIDAY to turn the volume down. That got your attention, your head whipped around from the computer you’d been staring at to find Bucky standing in the doorway.

“Hey,” he said quietly, “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

You nodded, glancing back at the computer. You hoped this search would show you some kind of result. Anything really.

“Sam and I came looking for you,” Bucky said, motioning for Sam to come in.

“Hey, Ariel,” Sam called. For some reason, he practically refused to call you by your name since he’d met you. The nickname wasn’t your favorite, but you shrugged it off.

“What’cha doin’?” Bucky asked as he came closer, looking over your shoulder to see the screen.

“Trying to find Tony.” Your voice was small, scratchy. You’d been singing and talking to FRIDAY for what felt like days, but you hadn’t talked to another person in a while.

“The others are gonna be here in just a bit to help out, okay?”

“Barnes and I gave them a ration of shit for ignoring you. We’re here to help you, alright?”

They were both standing beside you now. Bucky was looking at you, Sam had begun looking at the searches you’d already run. You felt your eyes tear up a little.

“I didn’t mean to take them away. I mean they have to be excited about Pietro-”

“Yes, they are. But Pietro isn’t going anywhere now. And we came here to help  _ you _ . Now we’re gonna do that. Aren’t we Steve?”

You turned in your chair to see a rather sheepish looking Steve Rogers in your doorway. He rubbed the back of his head before clearing his throat and walking in the room. The rest of the team except the twins filed in behind him. Steve stopped in front of you and met your eyes.

“I am very sorry, Y/N. We shouldn’t have-”

“No, really it’s... I would have felt the same. I just- I  _ need _ Tony back.” Your voice choked up and you felt the tears spill down your cheeks.

“And we’re gonna find him, Doll. We’re  _ all _ gonna help now.” Bucky rested a hand on your back and spoke soothingly.

“All of us,” Wanda was now standing in the doorway, with Pietro beside her.

And so it was that all of you started coallating the search results you had already done. Natasha and Clint had some suggestions, and Sam too. Vision and FRIDAY were a very good team, and the twins helped where ever they could.

You were nodding off at the computer when a beeping sound that you hadn’t heard before jolted you awake.

“Holy shit… I- I did it! I found him!”


	8. Chapter 8

For as long as it took to find Tony, the time it took to plan out how to rescue him was relatively quick. It felt like no sooner had you nailed down his location, than Steve and Rhodey had completely sketched out multiple plans and backups. 

You’d spent a lot of time with Rhodey when you first realized that Tony had disappeared. He’d been through this before, when Tony had gone missing in a war zone. When Tony had gained his arc reactor. Rhodey was  _ beyond _ worried. Granted, this was Tony Stark; he built his first Iron Man suit in a  _ cave _ , surrounded by terrorists... and it had worked well enough for him to escape. All Rhodey could think about was how it had felt when he’d first realized Tony was gone, and when he’d found him so hurt. Of course, Colonel Rhodes didn’t  _ show _ his fear, but it came through whether he wanted it to or not. 

He wasn’t the only one though. Your last few nights before the team left on the mission were spent in various rooms, singing lullabies. 

At first, you’d been nervous about it, but when literally  _ everyone _ encouraged and outright begged you to help, you had to help. Rhodey and Steve were the hardest to help, but you knew they were leading the mission; they needed the rest, so you stayed as long as it took. As a result, you didn’t get much rest.

“Wheels up in 10,” Steve all but shouted, startling you out of the daze you’d been in. You’d only intended to look out the window for a moment, but somehow, almost an hour had passed. 

In a panic, you sprinted to your room, grabbing the bag you had neurotically packed, and repacked the night before, and headed for the hangar. But as you passed the door to Tony’s lab, you paused.

_ “It’s the newest version,” Tony said from behind the welding mask he was wearing, “the suit is designed to be packed as small as possible so I can carry it. It isn’t quite as loaded as the others, but it ought to get the job done.” _

_ “When you say it ‘isn’t as loaded’, what you mean is it only has two cannons instead of five?” you snarked without looking up. You were perched on a stool in Tony’s lab, one elbow propped on the table top, your head in your hand, looking down at the music theory book Tony had given you months before. The book provided an excuse to not pay too much attention to his ramblings, but you were really in the lab to spend time with Tony.  _

_ “Ha ha,” Tony grumbled, flipping the mask up to look at you, “don’t sass me, or I’ll make  _ you _ a suit.” _

_ “I told you I don’t need one, Tony,” you looked up at him through your lashes, not moving your head.  _

_ Tony waved your comment off and went back to the finishing touches on his newest suit.  _

_ “What else is new about it? I  _ know _ you wouldn’t just change one thing.” _

_ “This one can be remotely activated.” _

_ “Can’t they all?” _

_ “What I mean is, someone else, anyone I key in, can activate the suit. They can activate it for themselves, or toss it at someone else and it will activate for them.” _

_ “So, if I were keyed in, I could throw it at Rhodey and it would activate and work for him?” _

_ “Yep, but Rhodey has his own. Why would he need it?” _

_ “You have your own too Tony, why do you need it?” _

_ “Touche,” he laughed as he crossed the room. He stepped right in front of your stool. You were still looking down at your book, your head still propped in your hand, balanced on your elbow resting on the table. Tony grabbed the arm holding your head up and pulled it, causing your head to drop. _

_ “The fuck?!” you sqwalked indignantly. Tony didn’t respond, simply took your hand and pressed one of your fingers to the small box that contained his new suit. A small prick to the pad of your finger told you he’d just taken a blood sample. _

_ “There, now you’re keyed in,” he said removing your finger from the device.  _

_ “And you couldn’t have asked me if I wanted to be first?!” you asked, standing to walk toward the first aid kit that you had insisted Tony keep in the lab.  _

_ “Would you have said ‘yes’?” _

_ “Probably,” you admitted, opening a sterile bandage strip and wrapping your finger with it, “but that isn’t the point. You still ought to ask people before taking their DNA, Tony.” _

You smiled at the memory of Tony’s slightly contrite expression. You’d known he wouldn’t  _ really _ change, but he had actually apologized later. Though Tony’s apologies usually came in the form of very expensive presents, he  _ was  _ sorry. 

Before you could second guess yourself, you walked into the lab.

“FRIDAY? Where’s the newest suit?”

A locker swung open, “here, Miss.”

As you walked over to take it, a second, larger locker popped open. 

“Mr. Stark also instructed me to give you this in the event that you were to do something like this.”

Brow furrowed, you picked up the small package that was Tony’s compact suit before waking to the second locker.

A smile grew on your face as you pulled the out the contents. “I told you  _ not _ to make me a suit, Tony.”

You boarded the jet a few moments later, wearing the suit you’d asked Tony not to make. The suit was comfortable, though you could tell the material was incredibly tough, most likely bullet resistant. There were plenty of zipper pockets on the legs of the suit which was made in a dark shade of your favorite color. It was nowhere near as fancy or “loaded” as one of Tony’s Iron Man suits, and you were extremely relieved. 

You zipped Tony’s suit into one of the pockets and sat down in one to the seats in the body of the quinjet.

“Almost left without you,” Steve admonished.

“Sorry, Captain. I remembered something I needed something from the lab.”

“Nice outfit,” Rhodey said stepping up to stand at Steve’s side, “What was it you took from the lab?” 

“Tony made the outfit. And I grabbed the new compact suit Tony was making. I just hope it’s finished.” You patted your pocket nervously. 

The beginning of the flight was quiet. The twins and Vision had stayed behind, and Thor had been called back to Asgard. Natasha and Steve were both in the cockpit, leaving you, Rhodey, Sam and Bucky in the body of the jet. Sam and Rhodey had been friends before the accords, but Bucky was clearly uncomfortable. He was sitting as far away from the rest of the group as he could. 

As Sam slowly started to warm back up to Rhodey (at least he was answering questions with more than monosyllabic words), you felt comfortable leaving them alone. You unbuckled your harness, and made your way back to Bucky. 

“Hey,” he said, looking up when you sat down next to him. “You doin’ okay?”

“Yeah… well, I think I am. I’m anxious. I hope everything goes okay, ya know? I just- I really… I need Tony to be okay.” You started to fidget with your hands after buckling into the harness at your new seat. “What about you?”

Bucky laughed a little, reaching up with his right hand to muss up his hair before tucking it back behind his ear. “I’m okay. Haven’t gotten out much since I was cleared mentally, but this,” he said, gesturing at his surroundings, “this feels pretty familiar.”

You smiled. “Yeah? I can’t say the same. Before Tony found me, I’d never even been in a normal plane before, let alone something this fancy.”

“I don’t think I asked but, how exactly did you meet Stark?” Bucky asked, sounding a little uncomfortable. 

Though you hadn’t really noticed, Bucky had been close to you throughout his time at the compound. Since you’d been able to get through to him, to calm him on that first day, and even more so when he found out he was immune to your powers, he’d stayed close to you as much as he could. He wasn’t sure of the exact reason why. Maybe it was because you could break through his panic and calm him. Maybe he just liked your voice. Maybe it was something more. When you mentioned Stark finding you, Bucky almost felt… jealous. But why would he be jealous of your relationship with Stark? What  _ was _ your relationship with Stark? You lived with him after all, but Stark was older than you. Not that  _ he _ wasn’t. Why was he thinking  _ that?! _

Unknowingly intruding on Bucky’s thoughts, you began speaking. “Well, I was on my own for a long time. My parents didn’t know what the hell to do with me. I got in trouble all the time, I was chased by all kinds of people, for all kinds of reasons. I learned to take care of myself, learned how to hide, but I still tried to help where I could. 

“Tony found me after I stopped a kidnapping. I thought I had stayed under the radar, but I guess the kid told the police how I used my powers. Must have given a pretty good description too. Not three days later, Tony Stark flew into my apartment, right through my window. Scared the shit out of me, and offered to give me a place to learn my powers, to maybe be an Avenger.”

“Guess that was pretty hard to pass up?” Bucky asked.

“That’s for sure. It was weird for a while, but I don’t know… I mean, their my family now. I had to get it through their heads that I didn’t need Rhodey’s overbearing-dad shit. Nor was Vision allowed to pop in and out of my room as he pleased. Honestly, aside from Tony’s insomnia and occasional bouts of wildly over-protective behavior, we all get along great now. I have three older brothers I never asked for,” you laughed, “and a younger one too. Peter isn’t around too much with his school and all, but he’s a lot of fun.”

Bucky could tell from the smile on your face that you meant every word you said; you really loved the men who’d taken you in. He could only imagine how Tony’s disappearance must have been weighing on you. If Steve had gone missing, Bucky would have been absolutely crawling the walls. He could understand why you’d made the decision to call Steve.

“And I know we couldn’t have found Tony any faster, I mean we still haven’t actually  _ found _ him yet, but shit I just-” you cut yourself off when you felt emotion welling up in your chest. Taking a steadying breath, you looked down at your lap. You really missed Tony. You’d been worried, more worried than you’d ever been before, and scared that you’d never see Tony again, but up until that moment, there had been work to keep you busy. There was nothing else to focus on except Tony’s disappearance, and how long he’d been gone, how he could been suffering, and how it was your fault that it had taken so long.

You were almost completely unaware of the jet around you. Your heart had begun racing, your hands were shaking, and your breathing was becoming rapid and shallow. You weren’t aware of any of it, but Bucky was.

He’d had enough experience with anxiety and panic, with self-doubt and guilt. Bucky could guess what was going through your mind; nothing good. He unbuckled his harness and came to kneel in front of your seat. Taking your hands in his, he tried to get your attention. 

“Hey.  _ Hey _ , look at me, Doll.” He had to repeat himself several times, but you eventually heard him. It was like hearing him from underwater, his voice was garbled and quiet. When you looked up and met his eyes, yours were frantic looking. He squeezed your hands.

“It’s all gonna be okay. I know you’re freaked out right now, but it’s okay. You’ve got Captain America, Black Widow, Iron Patriot and even Bird bo- I mean Falcon here. They’re gonna get Stark back.” You didn’t notice then that Bucky hadn’t mentioned his name among the heroes, but later, you would.

Bucky slid his right hand from your hand up your arm to rub up and down your bicep as he kept talking. “Take deeper breaths, okay? Can you do that for me?” he asked, giving you a small smile when you nodded. “Good girl. I know it’s easier said than done, but you can do it. Try to breathe with me.” He began taking exaggerated breaths for you to mimic. 

As you did, silent tears began to pool in your eyes. A good portion of your mind was telling you that you were to blame for Tony being gone. If not for his capture at least for the length of time he’d been gone. He  _ had _ to be wondering if or when he would be rescued. He was probably thinking he’d been forgotten by now. Your chest felt like it was being squeezed in a vice, tighter and tighter the more you thought about Tony giving up. Knowing that he struggled, that he thought pretty poorly of himself most of the time, you could only imagine what he was thinking after being held hostage with no promise of help. 

“Hey,” Bucky said with authority in his voice. His hands had moved so that he was cupping both your cheeks. If you had to guess, you’d say he’d been trying to get your attention for some time before you actually heard him. “I’m tryin’ to calm you down, not make it worse. Whatever it was that you were just thinking, its wrong.”

You closed your eyes, but nodded again.

“Okay, good. Now open your eyes again.” You didn’t respond but for a whimper. The concern he’d felt became fear and a helpless sadness. He started to brush his thumbs against your cheeks, shushing you softly. The tears finally began to fall from your lashes. Bucky continued to attempt to soothe you for a few moments before an idea came to him. 

Slowly, sensations came to you. 

“Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high, 

There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby, 

Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue, 

And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true,” 

 

The feeling of someone brushing your hair back off your forehead, of something softly wiping your tears away, and the sound of someone singing. Singing a song that you recognized. 

“Someday I'll wish upon a star, 

And wake up where the clouds are far behind me, 

Where troubles melt like lemon drops, 

Away above the chimney tops, 

That's where you'll find me,” 

 

The sounds of the jet and the feeling of the engines buzzing beneath your feet started to fade in as the song drew to an end.

“Somewhere over the rainbow, 

bluebirds fly, 

Birds fly over the rainbow, 

Why then, oh why can't I?, 

If happy little bluebirds fly, 

Beyond the rainbow, 

Why, oh why, can't I?”

 

Your breathing was more normal, and though you felt like a mess, your heart had stopped racing. 

“You back, Doll?”

You hummed in response before opening your eyes to look back into Bucky’s concerned face. You offered him a small, watery smile.

“Hey, there are those eyes,” Bucky smiled seeming to relax, “How ya doin? Okay?”

Taking a slow breath, you said, “Yeah. I think I’m okay now. Sorry about that.” You laughed awkwardly and looked away. “I came over intending to check on you, not have a meltdown. Sorry you had to deal with that.” You were beyond embarrassed. You’d held it together til then, why the fuck did you have to break down in front of Bucky like that? He probably thought you were a fucking disaster now. 

“Nothing to apologize for. You saw me fall apart day one. Plus, you’ve got a good reason. All I want is to know that you’re okay.”

Blushing, you kept your gaze averted, but Bucky practically sat on the floor so that he could catch your eyes.

“I’m okay,” you said, looking away again briefly, but looking back to him as you said, “Thank you, Bucky.”

Bucky smiled, taking one of your hands in his right one, giving is a squeeze as he sat back down in his seat. You gave him a squeeze in return, and when Bucky would have released your hand, you tightened yours.

“Can I- would you mind? It helps,” you mumbled, barely making eye contact.

“Not at all. Honestly, I’m actually not a huge fan of planes, so I could use the help too.” 

You laughed though it was a little humorless. “I don’t really believe you, but thank you, Bucky.” The smile you gave him was still small, but it reached your eyes unlike all the others you’d given him on the plane ride. He felt a weight lift off his chest as the two of you settled in for the rest of the ride.

The two of you talked most of the trip after that. Not about anything heavy; neither of you mentioned Tony, or anything about Bucky’s sketchy past, yet you learned about each other. You learned that Bucky’s little sister had loved music like you did; she wasn’t a singer, but a piano player. You learned how much Bucky missed hearing her play. Bucky learned that your grandfather had served in Bucky’s unit during the war, Bucky even remembered him. He learned how you’d loved listening to your grandfather's stories, not all about the war, though you had favored the Commando stories. But what the two of you really learned was that you had more in common than just a mutual feeling of comfort, and that the feeling of comfort was growing into something more. 

Your hand tightened around Bucky’s as you grew closer and closer to Tony’s location. 


End file.
